What is the Best Blu-Ray Player?

Rumors the demise of the DVD have been greatly exaggerated. You still own a few, they’re still available to buy and companies keep producing them because not EVERYTHING is available online.

Blu-ray players are still a big part of home entertainment because they can do a lot more than they lead on. The majority of Blu-ray players, in addition to playing high definition Blu-ray DVD’s, will also play those standard DVD’s you’ve been holding to. There’s no guarantee that your favorite obscure movie will be reissued on Blue-ray, so getting rid of it is out of the question. That’s not a problem when you have a Blu-ray player because you have a device that can handle both.

Also, most Blu-ray players are now coming fully equipped with the ability to support streaming media players for apps like Netflix and Pandora. That way, you can get the best of all three – your prized, old-school DVD, that brand new mega-edition Blu-ray packed to the gills with extras and you’ll still be able to connect to Netflix and listen to music.

Blu-ray players have increased in quality over the years and can run from incredibly cheap to almost unreasonably expensive. The one you purchase depends mostly on the setup you need it for. If you’re just using it to watch movies in your dorm room, the most basic one will probably suffice. If you have a full home entertainment center with a projector and AV receiver, you’ll likely need something with better quality and higher performance.

As with most technology, the best is never at the top for long. Companies are constantly trying to one-up each other and put out a newer, better, more efficient product and Blu-ray players are no different. The best one today may not be the best one two months from now, but it won’t make any of them obsolete. The specs will just keep increasing and the quality will get better, but for the most part as long as they still do everything you want your Blu-ray player to do – like play the actual DVD’s – then you’ll be fine.

When looking into Blu-ray players, there’s no single consensus as to what you should buy. One site may mention the Panasonic DMP-BDT220 while another mentions the same brand, but a slightly newer model. There are a few sites to check out when looking for Blu-ray players and most of them can be helpful with other electronic devices as well.

Consumer Reports, likely the most trusted review site, has an entire section devoted to Blu-ray players that can be found at: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/blu-ray-players.htm

Cnet is another site devoted to reviews and articles about global technology and consumer electronics. They also have a devoted section for Blu-ray players that can be found at: http://reviews.cnet.com/best-blu-ray-players/

PC Magazine, before moving strictly online in 2009, writes about technology and reviews products and has been one of the most trusted resources since its inception back in 1982. They also dedicate space to reviewing Blu-ray players here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2397234,00.asp

Consensus on the best electronic device is never going to be the same across the board because the technology evolves so fast, but sites like these can help you stay up to date on what’s changing.